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“Becoming Dr. Ruth,” the solo bio show of the famed sex educator Ruth Westheimer that played Hartford’s TheaterWorks earlier this year will make its off-Broadway bow next month at the Westside Theatre. Written by Mark St. Germain, directed by Julianne Boyd and starring Debra Jo Rupp, the show will begin previews Oct. 11 and open Oct. 29. The limited engagement plays through Jan. 12. Producers of the commercial run are Michael Alden, Stefany Bergson and Rodger Hess. Sad to learn that the show is being billed above the title as simply as The Barrington Stage Company production. Yes, the show had its first version at the Pittsfield, Mass. theater which commissioned the...

The doorbell of the apartment in a modest brick building in a quiet residential neighborhood in Washington Heights rings like Big Ben announcing the queen.
"Come in, come in," says the chirpy, accented voice of Ruth Westheimer, known more...

It's not as if Stephen Schwartz was just hanging out at his Ridgefield home this fall.
The composer's "to do" list was staggering: Working on lyrics to a new Bollywood animated movie musical, jetting around the world from Toledo to New...

On paper it is a brilliant plan. With a greenway of more than 300 acres encompassing picturesque farms with views of the surrounding hills, valleys and lush, deep forests, the Bakerville section of New Hartford has the potential to be a major draw for...

It took a little ice cream, some beer, a lot of visiting authors and a staff eager to try new things in a city that clings to old ways.
And it worked. Over the past five years, the Mark Twain House & Museum in Hartford has built on its foundation...

The Doctor is in...again. Barrington Stage will bring back its world premiere summer hit, “Dr. Ruth, All the Way” Sept. 19 to Oct. 7. The one person show based on the life and careers of Dr. Ruth Westheimer stars Debra Jo Rupp...

The first thing actress Debra Jo Rupp wants you to know is that her new role in a solo show about Dr. Ruth is not about sex.
Well, not all of it anyway.
But it's hard not to deal with the subject, especially given the playful title: "Dr. Ruth,...

Q: My boyfriend is always satisfied when we have sex, but the truth is he's satisfied so quickly that I usually end up doing without and staying frustrated. I'm 40, and after an emergency hysterectomy I feel I'm finally able to enjoy sex more. He is...

Q: I have been with my boyfriend for just over three years, and our sex life has become very boring, routine, lazy and just about the orgasm. I think it's because the sex is the same, so there's nothing to look forward to. We have tried different...

The documentary "Life Itself," directed by Steve James of "Hoop Dreams" and "The Interrupters" and based on the late Roger Ebert's 2011 memoir, could have settled for well-meaning hagiography or a feature-length pitch for...

Dear Miss Manners: My Facebook friends have wonderful lives, and I am glad for them.
They have the best boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife. ("Yeah, be jealous," demands one young lady about the man in her life.) Their sons and daughters win...

Every year, there's always one Super Bowl ad that generates a bit of next-day controversy. And this year's ad appears to be Coca-Cola's "It's Beautiful" ad.
The one-minute ad features children and adults from all walks of life, from across...

TADOUSSAC, Quebec - "Dancez avec moi?" inquires a jolly gentlemen as I step off the gangplank in Tadoussac, a little bit of a port at the confluence of the St. Lawrence Estuary and the Saguenay Fjord in Quebec province. Grizzled with grey at the...

In his easygoing, candid and altogether charming autobiography, or, as he calls it, "Life Itself: A Memoir," Roger Ebert fails to mention me: The nights he and I had many drinks on the porch of his house on Dickens Street and elsewhere, the...

Women break down in romantic comedies all the time. They just rarely do so to the point of looking unattractive, says Rashida Jones.“She always looks good, her hair looks good and her apartment’s pretty. It’s like, there’s things strewn on her couch and...

By some accounts, most Americans have done it. They've repacked, rewrapped and resent unwanted presents to a new recipient.
A survey in October 2011 by home fashion retailer HomeGoods found that more than half of the 1,000-plus respondents had...

(Reuters) - Facts about Pauline Phillips, better known as Abigail Van Buren, the Dear Abby advice columnist: * Phillips and her identical twin, Esther, who wrote the rival Ann Landers advice column, married their husbands in a joint ceremony in 1939 at...

— Americans in France who insist on chowing down the way they do back home miss out on one of the most satisfying pleasures any visitor can experience: exploring a country through its food.
There are any number of French restaurateurs who will give...

What should be done to improve sexual literacy? That was the topic at yesterday's luncheon sponsored by the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association. White House domestic policy adviser Melody Barnes was in attendance, and I was hoping...

Need help in the sack?
Sarah Gold, a senior reviews editor at Publishers Weekly, said relationship advice books used to pile up on her desk only before Valentine's Day. Now she gets a steady barrage year-round.
With book sales down 2.8 percent last...